The invention relates to a layered structure for pumping fluid by electroosmotic transport and a method of pumping a fluid through a layered structure by electroosmotic transport. The invention also concerns an electroosmodialysis apparatus that comprises the layered structure.
Structures for pumping fluid by electroosmotic transport, e.g. electroosmotic membranes, pumps and textiles, could be used in a wide range of applications for moisture and liquid flow control. Example application areas include microfluidic pumps, clothing (including leisure, sports, work and protective), medical (wound care, bed ulcer treatment etc), applications relating to climate control in automobiles, planes and buildings, etc. While electroosmosis can be driven by a DC current, the use of AC current has proven necessary, or at least provided a large improvement, in many applications due to the associated suppression of electrochemical reactions. This entails the complications that one needs an electroosmotic structure with current direction dependent transport properties, if the aim is to obtain a net transport of liquid in one direction. WO2015/173359 discloses some structures that have such direction dependent transport properties. However, there is a desire for alternative structures that have the potential to be less complex and easier to manufacture.